Sheet-metal can



(No Model.)

W. P. QUENTELL. SHEET METAL CAN.

Patented June 23,1891.

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM P. QUENTELL, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

SHEET-METAL CAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 454,561, dated June 23, 1891.

Application filed June 23, 1890. Serial No. 356,332. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM P. QUENTELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Sheet-Metal Cans; of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object to provide a removable seal for sheet-metal cans, so that after the can has been sealed up it can be conveniently opened to remove its contents Without the need of a can-opener or cutting through the metal.

In carrying out my invention I provide in the body of the can, toward its upper end, a circumferential bead or depression, and within this bead or depression a slit or aperture extending around the can, except at the joint. Over this aperture is then soldered a thin strip of metal of such a length as will entirely cover the aperture, and having one of its ends soldered to the can-body and the other end lapped over the fastened end and left free, so as to be engaged by a key or any other convenient tool to tear the strip from the aperture when desired to open the can. The strip being removed, the can is readily opened, as the entire top is left free to be wrenched ofi, its only hold being the small. uncut portion of the body.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a can ready to receive the material with which it is to be filled. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the aperture by dotted lines and the sealing-strip engaged by a key and partly loosened from the can-body; and Fig. 3 is a cross-section through one of the side walls of the can at the aperture, and showing the sealing-strip also in cross-section.

In the drawings, Arepresents the side wall of the can, and B the head thereof, which has a central filling-aperture 17. I11 the side wall of this can is formed a circumferential slit or aperture D, which is extended entirely around the body of the can, except at the seam (1. Over this aperture is then soldered the metal strip E, having an end 6 thereof projected beyond the end of the aperture and left free to be engaged by the key F.

The can is shown ready for use in Fig.1 of

the drawings, and in Fig. 2 the method of removing the strip is shown,the projecting end thereof being inserted through a slot in the end of the key and the key turned to wind the strip. The key is of course a mere matter of convenience for opening the can, and the strip may be removed by hand or by any suitable tool.

I provide in the body of the can a circumferential bead or depression embracing the slit or aperture, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, so that the strip E, when soldered in place, shall have its outside flush with the outside of the can-body; but this feature is not essential to the principal invention. Obviously it is expedient to form the aperture near the top of the can-body, so that when the strip is removed the contents of the can can not discharge through the aperture. iVhen the strip is torn off, the top of the can, including that portion of its wall above the slit, can be twisted off readily, the only hold after the strip is removed being the narrow portion left unsevered in forming the aperture.

I am aware that it has been proposed to provide the head or top of a sheet-metal can with a parti-circular aperture and to solder a sealing-strip over said aperture, leaving an end of the strip free to facilitate its removal; but this construction is open to the objection that meats or other solids cannot be readily ejected from the can, the projecting rim remaining after a portion of the top of the can has been removed, forming an obstruction.

I am also aware that it has been proposed to secure the tops or covers to cans by the use of a removable sealingstrip; but this method is objectionable in that the can-maker cannot furnish the can ready to have the head soldered on.

My can is adapted to the packing of meat and other solid or semi-solid articles, and to their ready discharge, because not only is the cap or cover entirely removed in opening the can, but the upper end of the body is also removed with the cap or cover, and my can may also be furnished by the maker to the packer complete-z. c, with the strip in placeand the packer solders on the cap or head in the usual manner.

I e1ain1 the bead and over the aperture and having A sheet-metal can having a circumferential an end thereof left free to facilitate its rebead in its side Wall toward the end of the moval, substantially as described.

can, an aperture formed circumferentially of XVILLIAM P. QUENTELL. 5 the can in the depressed portion and extend- Witnesses:

ing around the can-body, except at the seam, G. C. BAKER,

and a sealing-strip removably secured within G. W. TOURTELLOT. 

